Breathe
by lightblue-Nymphadora
Summary: Sequel to Wotcher but can be read on its own. Ginny Weasley's scored herself an Auror...Tonks! GWNT femslash. Rated M again, just in case but again, nothing graphic. Not JKR, just playing with her characters...
1. Ginny's Visit, Tonks's Past

Breathe (G/T)

**GPOV**

It's been two weeks since the fight at the Ministry. I thought Mum would be livid about me going, but she was really proud. I almost told her that night. Almost.

What am I keeping from my mother you ask? Just that I'm dating an Auror. A female, nineteen year old Auror, to be exact. I'm missing her like crazy, too. When she came back for me that night…well, let's just say I've never been quite that relieved in my entire life. But the next day was the last time I've seen her in two weeks. She came to the hospital wing to check on me and the others.

_Flashback:_

"_Ginny?" Tonks said, rounding the curtain._

"_Hey Nym," Ginny said._

"_How are you feeling," Tonks asked, sitting on Ginny's bed._

"_Alright. My ribs are still a little sore, but compared to Hermione, I've got it pretty good," Ginny smiled._

"_You were great. I'm so proud of you."_

_Tonks leaned down for a kiss…_

_End Flashback_

Oh yeah, I, Ginevra Weasley got a kiss from the hottest Auror/Metamorphmagus ever to grace this planet. But again, she's been running about with the Order, so I haven't been able to see her. Uh-oh, my mom's calling me. Bill must have left Fleur here again.

I walk downstairs, but Fleur is nowhere to be found.

"Hi Mum. You called?" I ask.

"Ginny, I've just had an owl from Tonks. She'd like you to come stay for the weekend and help her fix up her apartment."

My mind is spinning, but I manage to stammer out, "May I?"

"Of course. I feel safe letting you stay with her, as she's an Auror. I sent a reply back already; I figured you would want to go, as Hermione isn't here yet."

I race back upstairs. I'm packing like I'm going on an expedition. This would be so much easier if I could use my wand. I'm throwing clothes around my room when I hear:

"Want some help?"

I turn around and Nym is leaning against my doorframe looking amused.

"You got here quick," I tell her, giving her a big hug.

"I Flooed here from work," she says, levitating all of the clothes on my floor so I can pick the ones I want out of the air. "Mad Eye's keeping an eye on this house so when we're ready to go, he'll connect us to the network again."

I finish packing and follow her back downstairs.

"Mum?"

"Oh, Ginny, have you finished packing?" she asks.

"Yes," I tell her quickly, hoping she doesn't start to go over a checklist.

"We'll be back late Sunday; is that alright?" Nym asks Mum

"That sounds good. Have fun girls!"

"Thanks Molly," Nym says, walking over to our fireplace, "Home!" she says, and we're spinning through the air towards her apartment.

**TPOV**

For once, I actually land right side up, instead of my normal flat-on-my-face landing. Ginny comes in right behind me.

"Ok," she says brightly, "so what's with the boxes?"

"I bought a couple of new lamps and a new table for the place," I tell her, nodding toward the boxes. "I felt like redecorating."

"Ah, so it wasn't just a clever ruse to see my beautiful face?" she laughs.

"Well, it was mostly for that," I say, picking her up and swinging her around once, "But I really do need help, as these are Muggle-assembly lamps."

"Wizard stores sell stuff you can't put together with wands?" she asks, "Please don't tell my dad…"

We laugh and start to open the boxes. We've barely taken out the parts to one of the floor lamps when I notice that we're missing a lot of very necessary pieces…

"Those buggers didn't sell us the screws!" Ginny says

"We'll have to go get them," I sigh, "that is, if we want any type of light tonight. I've already sold back the others this morning."

We walk back over to my fireplace.  
"Diagon Alley!"

I'm not as fortunate with this landing. It sucks being a klutz when you're trying to be cool for your girlfriend. She's good about it though; probably because she's used to it. She gives me a hand up and we set about getting the missing pieces to the lamps. We purchase extra ones for the table, too, just in case.

**GPOV**

We're done shopping, thank goodness. There were way too many guys leering at me, and Nym was one snide remark away from getting carted off to Azkaban. We walk back to Gambole and Japes and step into the fireplace where Tonks yells "Home!" and we're flying back.

"Nym?" I ask when we get there and set to work, "what's the name of your apartment? All the other places have names, but I've only ever heard you say "home"."

I take the time to notice that she only ever lets me see her blush. It's kind of cool, because as the color rises to her cheeks, her hair goes red as well. Usually she morphs to keep it the same color, or makes it look like she's playing with it.

"Well," she begins, "first, you gotta know that I was seventeen when I thought of the name…and I had all guy friends who thought it was brilliant…"

This is going to be good…

"And it's completely a misnomer, you know?" she says

"Nym, just tell me!"

"…Metamorph Love Shack…"

**TPOV**

You know the expression, "rolling on the floor with laughter"? Well, Ginny actually is. I throw a pillow at her and look at my hair in the mirror. Damn, it's gone red. Not the hair color, either; I mean fire engine, my-ass-after-Bellatrix-was-done-with-it red. And no, I'm not going to explain that. I was five and it's the reason I really should remember that she's an incredibly good Occlumens. She's done laughing and I must look like I'm picking a new hair color, because she comes over and puts her arms around me.

"Don't change it. I like it red," she smiles.

"I don't really like it this color red. Could change it to your color though," I suggest.

"Why don't you like red?" she asks, giving me her patented I'll-know-if-you're-lying look.

Uh-oh. Looks like I am going to have to explain that earlier analogy. Trust me, she won't let it go if I don't.

"You don't want to hear this story," I try.

"Does it, by any chance, have anything to do with a certain family member that's got more screws missing than this table?"

"How'd you guess?" I ask smiling a little, "When I was five, she was thirty; she decided that she didn't want my mother to raise me. She thought that, even though I was a half-blood, I could be trained in pureblood ways. I guess it was Bellatrix's last attempt to redeem my family. Well, as you can probably imagine, she didn't feel the need to inform my mother; let alone ask permission to take me…"

"She kidnapped you?" Ginny asks, horrified.

"Yeah," I answer, "It wasn't that bad at first. A lot of learning family trees and disparaging half-bloods and Muggle-borns. Then one day, I thought I'd go looking around the house. I wanted to go home, so I wanted to look for some Floo powder. I found some in one of the bigger rooms, but instead of taking it and going home, my five year old curiosity got the better of me and I started looking around. I should probably tell you, this whole clumsiness thing of mine has been life long and I hadn't bothered to put the Floo down. Did you know that stuff stains? Well, I knew I was in trouble, but I still didn't know whose room that dress was in. I was hoping it was Aunt Narcissa's. Evil though she may be, she at least had mothering qualities about her."

"So it was Bellatrix's room, of course," Ginny says.

"Of course. They got back from…wherever they were…and I just made the entire situation worse by lying to her. Course, she probably would've done the same thing, but anyway, she was already very good at Occlumency, so of course she found out."

"What happened?" Ginny asks looking anxious.

"She beat me," I answer simply, "But Bellatrix's beatings are more akin to short term torture methods; I won't go into it. She called Narcissa in when I was laying on the ground. I remember her saying, 'I didn't know something that small could bleed that much.'"

"That's horrible!" Ginny yells

"It was, but it was short; sent me back the next day saying I was too clumsy to be a pureblood. She has a love/hate relationship with me. Blames everything on my parents. Says I would've turned out ok if my mother had married a proper man. You saw how she didn't kill me at the Ministry."

Ginny wraps me in a big hug.

"You're too cool to be a pureblood," she says firmly.

"Hey, now. You do remember that your family is pureblood, right?" I laugh.

"Yeah, but we're not psycho. Blood traitors, remember?"

"Ummm," I start, "you remember our discussion about ulterior motives earlier…"

"The other reason you invited me was because you wanted to keep an eye on me? So your psychotic aunt who knows of my existence, and probably has a pretty good picture of what I look like, doesn't try anything?" she asked

"Uhhh, yeah," I smile, looking down at her, "We really do need to tell your parents…"

"K!" she says brightly, looking at her watch, "Let's go tell my dad now."


	2. Coming Out, Back to Hogwarts

**GPOV**

I know, Flooing over to Sirius's, or rather, Harry's house, and telling my dad probably isn't the best of plans. But I have to catch him sometime between the Ministry and home, so this is it. Plus, I need to tell him before my resolve weakens…

"Do you want me there?" Tonks asks.

"I should probably tell him myself. Just wait here okay?" I say, going into the kitchen.

"Ginny!" my dad says, walking over to hug me. Oh hell, Bill and Charlie are here. Well, maybe that's a good thing; they can protect Tonks if Dad blows.

"Uh, hey Dad," I say, "Could I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure," he says, and then asks, "Is everything ok at home?"

"Everything's fine. I just…need to tell you something…"

He stalls me and points his wand toward the door, which opens with a click. Tonks, who is standing on the opposite wall, looks up.

"Am I right in thinking that it has something to do with a certain Auror whom you have been spending ample amounts of time with?" he asks.

I told you, the Muggle fixation is his only downfall. Otherwise, the man's brilliant.

"Yeah," I say, hoping he doesn't start yelling.

"Tonks, come in here," he says….

**TPOV**

Oh God. He's going to kill me. I'm walking in and Charlie whispers,

"Don't worry, sit between me and Bill and we'll protect you."

That's when I notice that Bill is giving his sister a look of deep admiration. I'm glad these two are taking it well, because Molly and Ron are going to kill me if Arthur doesn't get to it first.

"Tonks," Arthur starts, "when exactly did this start?"

"Well… technically, a year ago," I answer. Because technically it didn't start until I kissed her two weeks ago. However, I'm trying to be as truthful as humanly possible, so I include the year of correspondence. I tell him this and Ginny smiles and rolls her eyes at me.

"Tonks, you know I've got no problem with you. I normally would be uncomfortable with Ginny being in a relationship with someone who is already out of school; but I've known you for a while now and I trust you. I don't see why you two shouldn't be allowed to see each other. However, her staying with you is out of the question," he smiles.

"But Dad," Ginny starts, "Mom'll know something's up if I come home early!"

"What better lead in for this conversation? In fact, I'm due home any moment, so why don't we go on now?"

It wasn't a question really. So we followed him to the front step of Grimmauld Place and apparated, Ginny with me, to the Burrow.

**GPOV**

Damn! He's making me tell Mum. Well, at least now I've got three people to protect me and Tonks if Mum or Ron gets out of hand. We make it into the house and of course today is the day the whole family, sans Percy and Harry, decide to help her with dinner. Ha, Tonk's hair is going through colors really fast since she's so nervous. Now, Dad, as you've seen, is pretty direct. He walks right over to Mum and says,

"Hello Honey. Tonks and Ginny will be staying for dinner. Did you know they're dating?"

"THEY'RE WHAT?!?!?"

Instinctively, Tonks and I both step behind Bill and Charlie. Ron's turning eight shades of red; Bill and Charlie have their heads bent, trying to hide their grins; Fred and George aren't even attempting to conceal it and are laughing and giving me huge thumbs up signs.

"Nice going sis!" Fred, no George, yells.

"Ha ha, Ginny likes older women!" That was Fred.

"And she scored an Auror!" George laughs

"And to think, Tonks; all this time I thought you were secretly lusting after me…" Fred kids her, feigning deep hurt. Her hair is Gryffindor maroon now; same color as my face. Bill and Charlie's shoulders are shaking with suppressed laughter.

"This is NOT funny!" Mum yells, "Ginny's too young for this kind of relationship…plus Tonks is a girl!"

"Oh, well spotted Mother," Fred rolls his eyes. She hits him with a dish towel.

"What about Harry, dear?" she asks, looking faint.

"Mum, come on," George says, "She got over Harry ages ago."

"What about that bloke from Ravenclaw?" Ron asks, "And Dean?"

"How many people have you dated without my permission exactly?" Mum yells.

"Ron, I told you about Michael and Dean just to piss you off. I didn't really date them. Mum, just one, Tonks," I answer calmly.

"Tonks, I thought you…liked Remus?" Mum asks.

"Molly, I told you I'm worried about him. Not that I liked him. He's the only…now that…" she stops and looks down, the roots of her hair turning blue. Oh no, she's thinking about Sirius. I look up at Fred, who gets the hint.

"Well, Tonks welcome to the family," he says loudly, "Mum, let me have the potatoes."

Dinner is weird, as is to be expected. After, Fred and George tell us to come out to the yard for a demonstration of their newest line of products, shield hats. As we're going to the yard, I pull Nym aside.

"I know you miss him. I do too," I say, hugging her.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to loose it like that," she says, pulling back and wiping her eyes, "It's just that…Remus is really my only connection to Sirius, and he's in hiding. I'm really worried about him…"

"I know. But he's going to be fine," I say, hoping that I'm right.

"Girls?" Mum asks, "Are you coming outside?"

"Yeah," I say, pulling Tonks after me.

The rest of the evening is spent watching Fred and George duel. Hermione arrives about a minute after they start, and the boys, sans Ron, have a good time filling her in on what she's missed…

**TPOV**

Arthur has to go back to work after dinner and Molly says she wants to talk to me. We wait until everyone else has gone to bed to talk. I think for sure that she's going to tell me that I can't see her daughter, but she really wants to see how I'm doing without Sirius. We're still talking when Harry and Dumbledore show up. I decide to leave; I don't want to be the one to tell Harry.

I look in the mirror when I get back to my apartment. My hair's gone brown; it only does that when I'm stressed. I decide to finish the lamps and go to bed. I'm starting my new Hogwarts Defense Team position in two days, so I have to start packing all of my Auror equipment.

Snape is such a git. Harry got accosted by Malfoy on the train, so we were late getting up to the school. Apparently, my new Patronus, which has changed from an eagle to either Remus or Sirius's animal form, looks weak. I apparate back to my apartment and notice right away that something is off. It's far too dark in here. I'm glad I'm an Auror. If I weren't, I would have casted a light charm first, instead:

"Protego!"

I watch as a red Stunning jinx deflects off of my shield and then cast some light.

"Hello Bellatrix."

"Nymphadora, I see your reflexes have improved," she says

"What do you want?" I ask, turning on all the lights and keeping my wand aloft.

"Well, I was under the impression that your girlfriend was staying here. And she's a pureblood! My, my, Nymphadora, we are an improvement from my sister. Anyway, I want to meet her."

"You're not getting anywhere near her," I tell her dryly, "And I'm not dating her because she's a pureblood."

"Of course not. If you were, you'd be dating a man to keep your line going. And you wouldn't have picked a blood traitor family. But again, I'm willing to forgive unfortunate parentage. And I'm sure the Dark Lord will, too. We need Death Eaters with her skill. You should have seen her at the Ministry. She gave us quite a run for our money. Mouthy little shit, though."

"Oh, shut up," I spit, "and how did you get in here?"

"You're gonna need a Secret Keeper if you want to keep me out, niece."

With that, she apparates away. Damn!


	3. Tonks Can Cook?

**GPOV**

I'm so excited! I get to see Nym this weekend. Somehow, with all the security restrictions, we're still allowed to visit Hogsmeade some weekends. Tonks moved into an apartment here, according to her, to be closer to her station, but I have a feeling there's more to it than that. But anyway, we're leaving the castle now and I keep reminding myself that being frisked with every type of Secrecy Sensor imaginable is a small price to pay for getting to see my girlfriend.

We're meeting at the Post Office so she doesn't have to leave her "lookout" unless something happens. I'm standing there for a good five minutes worrying because she's not there. Then she comes jogging around the corner and into the lobby.

"I'm sorry Ginny. Mundungus Fletcher was here selling Sirius's things and I had to pull Harry off of him," she apologizes, "How are you?"

"Fine," I tell her, "You? You're hair's gone brown again…"

"I'm fine, just worried about you guys. Are your classes going ok?"

We talk about my classes and Quidditch for a while. She's laughing at my review of Ron's Quidditch skills when she looks out the window.

"Ginny get down!"

I drop. I'm sitting against the wall watching her go outside to whatever she's just seen. She comes back in and extends a hand to help me up.

"Come on," she says, "I've got to get you back to the school. The teachers have rounded up most of the kids at the Three Broomsticks. That was a message from McGonagall; someone's been hurt."

We're jogging back down the main street and see a large group of Hogwarts kids in front of us.

"Alright," she says, running her fingers through my hair, "Stay with them, ok? Sorry if I scared you a moment ago, but McGonagall sent an emergency message, so it must be something serious. Do you still have your mirror?" she asks quietly.

"Yeah," I reply, "Do you think we'll be able to come to Hogsmeade again?"

"I don't know, Gin," she says, "Just be careful while you're in Hogwarts, too. If you need anything, call me on the mirror. Anytime, ok? I can use it whenever now. Go on, they're leaving."

She wraps me in a hug and I see her hair go momentarily pink.

"I will," I promise her, "you be safe too, ok?"

"Promise."

**TPOV**

I walk back into my apartment and plop onto my brand new couch. I miss the Metamorph Love Shack, but it's replacement, Metamorph's Crash Pad (Ginny picked it), isn't too bad. I made Arthur my Secret Keeper and amazingly, Molly didn't kill me when I told them about Bellatrix. She's actually more worried for me than Ginny. She's maintaining that Ginny is perfectly safe, so long as she's at Hogwarts with Dumbledore. I agree, but I still can't help worrying about my little redhead. Ha-ha, she'd throw a pillow at me, if she was here, for calling her that. It's my way of getting back at her for her stubborn use of my first name. I'm debating what to cook for dinner when I hear my name from the mirror in my pocket.

"Wotcher Ginny," I smile, "What's going on at the school?"

"Katie Bell…she got this cursed necklace somewhere…" she tells me as her eyes fill with tears. Katie Bell…oh crap, that's one of her friends from the Quidditch team.

"She's going to be alright though?" I ask, hoping to God that the answer's yes.

"Yeah," Ginny sniffs, "but it's pretty bad. They had to take her to St. Mungo's. Are you at home?"

"Yeah. Just about to make dinner."

"Oh no, you're cooking?" she giggles.

"Hey now! Just because I haven't had the chance to demonstrate my culinary abilities, doesn't mean they don't exist," I laugh. She doesn't believe that I can make anything more than Ramen noodles for myself.

"Will you cook for me this summer?"

"Sure!" I promise, but then I have an idea, "Gin? I gotta go report to Moody. I'll talk to you tomorrow ok?"

"Alright," she says, "'Night Nym."

"Night my little redhead," I smile. She sticks her tongue out at me and closes her mirror. I wave my wand and ingredients come out of the cupboards. I take a look around at what all I have, and then get to work…

**GPOV**

I'm so tired. The girls in my dorm stayed up late studying and talking about what happened at Hogsmeade yesterday. I sit down next to Ron who's talking to Invinciboy about something. I don't look up as owl swarm overhead to deliver the mail. But then, a small tawny owl lands in front of me with a box. I recognize the handwriting on it right away. It's from Nym. I detach the box and the owl zooms away. I open it and there's a note above a dozen cookies and brownies:

My little redhead,

I couldn't wait till the summer to show off. Stay safe; and good luck at your first game! Talk to you soon,

Nym

She cooked for me! Ok, I'm going to have to eat my words along with these brownies, because Merlin's pants are they good.

I end up having to endure all of my classes and Quidditch practice before I can talk to her.

"Nymphadora Tonks."

"Wotcher Ginny," she smiles, "is this call in reference to the package you received this morning?" she asks smugly.

"Ok, ok, you are an amazing _baker_," I say, putting emphasis on the last word, "Technically baking and cooking are two different things…"

She rolls her eyes at this.

"Hey! Guess what?" she says.

"What?"

"I'll be at your Quidditch game! Dumbledore wants a few Aurors at Hogwarts off and on, just in case you know? So I'll be up there in a few days. I think Hooch and I are supervising a practice too, but I don't know which one."

"What day?" I ask.

"Uhhh," she says, looking down at something, "Friday."

"That's ours!"

"Awesome! I'll see you then ok?"

"Alright."

**TPOV**

I'm watching the Chasers drill right now. They are such amazing flyers. Clumsy though I am, I'm actually pretty good on a broom. Hooch is reminiscing about one of my games when I played Chaser for Ravenclaw. Uh-oh, Harry's just had to mend Demelza's mouth. Ginny's shouting at Ron; I guess he did it. It's probably not one of the best practices ever, but as long as they keep the Quaffle away from Ron, I think they'll be ok.

I'm walking back through the castle. We do a walkthrough of the castle before going home each night. I'm going through one of the halls on the fifth floor, on my way out, when someone yanks me into a tapestry that I thought was a solid wall.

"Ginny!" I say, "You almost gave me a heart failure."

"I've told you a million times about exaggerating," she laughs, "I had to run all the way up here. You didn't stick around after practice."

"Well I had to finish patrolling. And I figured you had to study."

"Can I have one kiss before you leave?" she pouts.

"I dunno, Gin," I say nervously, looking around, "This isn't like at home. If someone catches us I'm going to be in serious trouble. And I'm probably not going to be able to come back."

"Well, it's not like I want to make out or anything," she smiles, "Just one, real quick?"

"Fine."

She pulls me into a kiss and then a hug when we hear:

"Oi!"

We look around and it's Ron and Harry. I never thought I'd say this, but I just got way lucky.

"What?" Ginny asks angrily.

"I don't want to find my own sister snogging people in public!"

"This was a deserted corridor until you came butting in!"

With Ron and Ginny shouting at each other, I'm the only one that notices Harry's faint look of jealousy. I smile at him and he doesn't return it. Oh yeah, now he wants her. Jerk. I know he's the Boy Who Bloody Well Won't Die, but still…

"Er…come on Ginny," I say.

"Go ahead Nym; I want a word with my dear brother."

Oh shit…


	4. Anger Management

I changed this scene from HBP so that Tonks was in it...

**GPOV**

"Right," I say, once Nym has gone. I know she's just around the corner, ready to pull me off of Ron if need be, but that's not the point, "let's get this straight once and for all. It's none of your business who I go out with or what I do with them, Ron—"

"Yeah it is!" he yells angrily, "D'you think I want people saying my sister's a—"

"A _what_? A what exactly?" I yell, drawing my wand. There are only two things he could've said there. One starts with a D and the other starts with an S. Either way, he deserves the hex I'm about to throw at him…

"He doesn't mean anything, Ginny—"Harry says

"Oh yes he does!" I scream, "Just because _he's_ never snogged anyone in his life, just because the best kiss _he's _ever had is from our Auntie Muriel—"

"Shut your mouth!" Ron bellows.

"No, I will not! I've seen you with Phlegm, hoping she'll kiss you on the cheek every time you see her, it's pathetic! If you went out and got a bit of snogging done yourself, you wouldn't mind so much that everyone else does it!"

Ron pulls out his wand. I could disarm him, but I wouldn't want to embarrass him any more than he's embarrassing himself…

"You don't know what you're talking about!" He yells, trying to get a clear shot around Harry, "Just because I don't do it in public—"

"Been kissing Pigwidgeon, have you?" I laugh, and yes, I know I sound psycho, "Or have you got a picture of Auntie Muriel stashed under your pillow?"

"You—"

An orange jet of light streaks by me and Harry presses Ron harder against the wall. Seriously, I think these two are fucking; because no male holds another male friend like that, even if they are trying to restrain them…

"Harry's snogged Cho Chang and Hermione's snogged Viktor Krum. You're the only one who acts like it's something disgusting, Ron, and that's because you've got about as much experience as a twelve year old!"

With that I storm away. Just as I thought, as I round the corner, Nym is waiting for me.

"Bloody hell, I thought I was going to have to jump in there if you two started dueling…" she says, "By the way, remind me _never_ to piss you off…"

**TPOV**

There's a Quidditch game going on, but I'm stuck patrolling. I have managed to catch Ginny scoring a few times, though. They play wonderfully, even Ron today, and end up winning. Harry wasn't paying attention and almost missed the Snitch, but he caught up and got it. I'm on my way to the hospital wing right now to visit my short tempered redhead. She had a full on collision with the commentator's box. On purpose…she was aiming for the commentator.

"Hey Nym!" she's coming out when I get there.

"Have you ever considered anger management?" I kid her.

"Nope. Rehab's for quitters," she laughs.

"You're ok?"

"Yeah, just a couple of cuts from the wood. Was worth it though," she grins.

I roll my eyes at her.

"Are you coming to the next game?"

"No, I'll be outside the school for that one. Sorry," I add, seeing her disappointment, "but we've got to keep switching during events. So if anyone's watching the school they won't know the Auror's routines or schedules."

"Don't worry, I get it," she smiles.

We reach the Gryffindor's common room entrance and I give her a hug. You know, since our kisses never really end up happening.

"Go on. I'll talk to you soon," I tell her.

"Ok," she mumbles, still firmly attached to me.

I push her back a little, "Don't worry about me ok? You know all the security around Hogwarts? I helped do it. I'll be fine, I promise."

"Alright," she smiles. See, I'm not the only paranoid one…


	5. Death Eaters

**TPOV**

Holy buckets, I need sleep. But I can't, because I received a very disturbing piece of mail this morning. Apparently, the Malfoy boy is getting pretty close to sneaking Death Eaters into Hogwarts, says Bellatrix. Yeah, right. She's doing this just to scare me, but I took it to Dumbledore anyway, just in case. So it's ten o clock at night right now, and I'm sitting outside of the Hufflepuff common room with Professor Sprout. For the thousandth (it seems like) time today, I'm explaining that she didn't tell me when or how or anything that a smart Death Eater would keep secret. I'm starting to wish I had volunteered to guard Gryffindor tower. I would have been with McGonagall and wouldn't sound like a broken record. I didn't volunteer for Gryffindor, because Gryffindors had a nasty habit of sneaking out at night. A habit that, I'm sure, that Ginny has inherited. I don't need to argue with her tonight about staying in the tower, so I'm stuck repeating the letter to Sprout. I'm hungry, too. It's around midnight, and I haven't eaten since my quick sandwich at dinner. I'm contemplating running down the hall to the kitchens when I hear muffled yells.

"What the hell?" I say, jumping to my feet.

Sprout does the same and, with a look at one another, we both run to take the formations that Dumbledore assigned us in case of an attack.

**GPOV**

Damn it! Damn it to hell! I can't see a thing. I'm lying flat on my stomach with one hand on Ron's shoulder and one on Neville's. We've just seen Malfoy come out of the Room of Requirement, but he's thrown some of Fred and George's darkness powder and it's gone pitch black. I don't know what we're going to…

I've just remembered, my mirror! I take my hand off of Ron's shoulder; all of us trying to keep as quiet as possible so the Death Eaters don't know where to shoot jinxes. I pull out the mirror and whisper,

"Nymphadora Tonks"

Her face lights up in a small square on my hand.

"Not now Ginny," she says hurriedly.

"Seventh floor, Death Eaters!" I say urgently, "They moving, we can't see!"

"Ok," she says, and closes her mirror.

We lay there listening and finally hear the footsteps recede enough for us to move. I stand up, pulling at Ron and Neville's robes to get them to follow. Thanks goodness, the darkness has started to dissipate, and we can see our way out of the corridor.

**TPOV**

I love my job. We moved fast enough to catch them on the fifth floor, and I'm dueling now. It's amazing, and the only time I'm even semi-graceful. God only knows what my hair is doing right now. Excitement and adrenaline usually have an interesting effect on it. I know this isn't the time for an analysis on Death Eater dueling form, but this one is rather good. He, or she, is…ahem…a bit large, but whoever it is moves really quickly. It's annoying. The one McGonagall's dueling is slower; she'll take him down in a moment. I know this is bad, but I'm having a bit of fun. It's been horrible these past few weeks, waiting for the storm to break. I think I'll stun him now, I'm tired of him. I'm…

I'm going to kill her. Two redheads just came down the stairs. One of them is Ginny, who is currently taking out Death Eaters like she's been doing this for years. She's not going to hear the end of this one—

BANG!

Shit, they've upped the ante with the dueling. They're dueling to kill now.

I'm trying to fight my way over to Ginny, but it's not happening. None of the Death Eaters are letting up enough to run over. How did I start dueling three? When did the other two get here? Wait a second, was that Snape? Why the hell isn't he dueling? He's running with the Malfoy boy…Maybe he's taking him to Dumbledore's office. Damn, I've never seen Harry run that fast! He just stunned Greyback and whoever Ginny was fighting, but now he had sprinted out of sight. But now, we're winning…

**GPOV**

It's been a week. A whole week since Harry walked into the hospital wing and gave us the news. A week since we found out that Lupin gave in and got engaged to one of Tonk's friends. Another metamorphmagus; she's in a support group or something…A few days since Dumbledore's funeral. Anyway, we're back at home now. I actually haven't seen Tonks since the funeral. She had some mission with Kingsley and hasn't been back yet. I'm dying to use my mirror, but I don't want to put her in danger if she's undercover. She sent a patronus to my dad this morning, saying she's ok and that she'll stop by tomorrow. My parents have gotten pretty attached to her since the battle. My mom still isn't…comfortable with us, but she only brings it up when she and I are alone. She's stopped making it into a family discussion. This is happening less and less now, because wedding plans for Bill and Fleur are in full motion. Mom and Fleur's relationship got loads better when Fleur didn't ditch Bill after Greyback attacked him. Things are really crazy around here now…

**TPOV **

Why in god's name Kingsley picked me to go on that mission, I will never know. He bloody well knows I only passed Stealth and Tracking by a stroke of luck. I've been undercover now for longer than I care to be at any given moment. It was worse than guarding that stupid prophecy two years ago. But it's alright; I'm heading to the Burrow now. I promised the Weasleys (Ginny mostly) that I'd stop in when I got off of duty.

Mr. Weasley's there when I apparate at the end of their road.

"How are you Tonks?" he asks with concern.

"'M okay," I tell him, "A little tired, but that's all."

"Good, good," he says, "You should probably go see Ginny first," he says smiling, "she's been worried sick about you."

"Wotcher," I smile back, "It's horrible that I can't tell her that I'll be safe," I tell him, "I know she believes in me and everything, but it would be nice if I could reassure her."

"Those who live in dangerous times don't have the luxury of reassurance, unfortunately," he smiles sadly.

"Ain't that the truth?" I say, as we walk into the house…

**LbN: Ok, so their relationship is a bit too perfect right now. Time for a fight, don't you think?**

I played the fool today

I just dream of vanishing into the crowd

Longing for home again

Home, is a feeling I buried in you

I'm alright, I'm alright

It only hurts when I breathe

And I can't ask for things to be still again

No I can't ask if I could walk through the world in your eyes

Longing for home again

Home, is a feeling I buried in you

I'm alright, I'm alright

It only hurts when I breathe

-"Breathe" Melissa Etheridge


End file.
